A Curve of Fate
by WesleyInsley
Summary: Fate takes a turn with Leslie, but just because Fate decided to curve, doesn't mean that everything will turn out so great for other people. Leslie Doesn't Die
1. The Museum

**A Curve of Fate**

**Chapter 1**

**The Museum**

_Please, read and review :) This is my first BtT fanfic, and I plan on writing way more, but I couldn't help but put out the first chapter :) More Reviews means better motivation towards me making the rest of the book faster. Please, don't complain about how the story is a little "bland" on how Leslie doesn't die, I could care less. Nothing really more to add, except thank you __**IHateSnakes**__, if it wasn't for __A Life Rescued__ I Wouldn't have started writing this. (There are more people I could name to thank, but IHateSnakes is the biggest name :) sorry!)_

"Jesse, I called you three times! It's your girlfriend." May Belle stuck her stuck her tongue out at the last remark she made, and handed Jesse the phone.

"She's not my _girlfriend_"

"Hey!" Jesse happily answered the phone.

"Hello Jess." An unfamiliar voice came from the ear piece.

"Wait, who is this?"

"I know it's a Saturday, but it's your teacher Ms. Edmunds. I was planning on taking my nephews into the city to see the museum but there was a change of plans last minute, so I had a thought."

Ms. Edmunds finished up her proposal and Jess happily agreed. He asked her to hold on so he could make sure it was okay with his parents. Jess trudged down the stairs and slowly opened his parents door.

"Hey mom" Jesse whispered.

Mary Aarons rolled over, still half asleep.

"Is it the baby?"

"No she's fine…May Belle's got her. My teacher wants me to go on a field trip today."

"Mhmm..." She rolled back over and mumbled.

"I-is that okay?"

"Mmm" His mother had obviously fallen back asleep. Jess said no more, and walked backwards through the door, closing it tightly.

"Miss Edmunds!?," Jesse made sure his teacher was still on the phone. "Yea I can go."

She told him to meet her out in front of his house, and playfully told him to hurry up. He put on his jacket and shoes and ran out the front door. As he approached the car, he stopped and thought about Leslie. He felt a little guilty as he got in, and was debating whether he should ask if she could come or not.

"All set?"

"Yea" Jesse smiled and nodded at his teacher.

"Yea?"

"Yes ma'am." Jesse corrected himself quickly, mentally kicking himself for not using his manners.

As Jesse and his teacher rode by Leslie's house, she turned and looked at him.

"Forget something?" Ms. Edmunds questioned, arching her eye brows. As she said this, Jesse had a huge wave of guilt hit him when he thought about Leslie. She had to come.

"Uh Y-yea, do you think Leslie can come with us?"

"Sure Jess, where does she live?"

"Right there…" Jesse pointed to the house at his right.

"Alright well you go get her, and I'll be waiting right here, okay?"

Jesse smiled, opened the passenger door, and ran off towards Leslie's house.

"Hey Jess, what's up" Bill Burke opened the door and greeted Jesse happily.

"Is Leslie home?"

Before Mr. Burke could answer, Leslie came from down the stairway and ran up to Jess, P.T. followed right behind her.

"Hey Jess! What's up?" Mr. Burke laughed at her daughter's unintentional mimic of him.

Jesse turned towards her father as if he was completely ignoring her, and asked if Leslie could join him and his teacher for a "school field trip." She pleaded her father on the subject, and after a couple of seconds thinking, Bill Burke blissfully agreed on his daughter going. She hugged her dad good bye and ran towards Jesse grabbing his hand. Jesse gasped and unintentionally yanked his hand away from her.

"What's the matter Jesse, afraid to hold a girls hand?" Bill Burke teased as he closed the door.

As he looked back at Leslie, he could see a bit of sadness in her eyes. He could tell that what he just did was a completely stupid (but accidental) act. He smiled, and watched as the pain instantly went away from her eyes. They both started walking to the car, hands slightly tapping each other. Jesse felt a sort of "shock" go through his whole body that made him feel really happy whenever there hands would hit.

"So where are we going anyway?" Leslie urged the question, obviously interested.

"I don't know…Miss Edmunds said we are going to a museum."

"Oh wow! I love museums, which one is it, do you know?"

"Um…No, some art museum in Washington D.C."

"Are you guys just going to sit there and talk all day or get in?" Mrs. Edmunds asked playfully as she leaned over the arm rest of her seat.

Leslie attempted to open the car door, was the handle wouldn't budge.

"Darn thing's been broken for a while…I keep telling myself to go get it fixed but I've never really had the time I guess."

"H-here let me try." Leslie stepped away from the car and Jesse grabbed the handle. With a couple of tugs, Jesse popped the door open and pointed his hand into the car saying "Ladies first."

"Well aren't you a gentlemen?" Leslie said, punching his arm playfully.

"_Jess Aarons_, are you really going to leave me all alone up here in the front seat? I see how it is!" Mrs. Edmunds said with a smile. She looked up in the rear view mirror and stuck her tongue out at him.

"S-sorry…"

Jesse took the statement seriously, and began to climb up into the passenger seat until Leslie pulled him down by his belt loop. He flopped back down into his seat and looked out the window at all the trees speeding by. Leslie on the other hand was sitting in the seat beside him, staring at him, hoping he would turn around and notice her. After five minutes past of constant staring, Leslie turned towards her window to lay her head on her arms to watch the objects outside, just as Jesse was doing.

"You guys want to listen to the radio? You look like two dead bodies back there!"

Jesse, now fully alert and startled at the sudden noise said that he didn't care if she put music on or not; Leslie suggested a popular station and Ms. Edmunds did as requested.

"Oh my gosh Jess I love this song!" Leslie turned towards Jess and shook his arm.

"I've never heard it before, who's it by?"

"Metro Station, There an electric-rock band…Don't you just love how upbeat it is?"

Jesse nodded his head, smiled, and starting tapping his feet at the beat. _Shake Shake, Shake shake, a shake it!_ Jesse sung the words he heard repetitive times in his head, and from the looks of Leslie, so was she. As the song ended, Ms. Edmunds popped in a CD and told the kids to be quiet. They obeyed and listened to the song. It started off acoustic and sounded a bit country to them. Ms. Edmunds sung the song happily to the kids.

"There ain't a lot that you can do in this town You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around…Come on guys you know this song!" Ms. Edmunds smiled and looked at the two kids from the rear view mirror. It was obvious they where stumped at what the song was.

Mrs. Edmunds started to sing, Jesse and Leslie finally realizing the song began to sing along.

"I got me a 67 Chevy, she's low and sleek and black… Someday I'll put her on that interstate and never look back!"

They finished up the next part of the song and Ms. Edmunds hit the pause button on her radio.

"You guys want to play a game?" She asked.

"Sure" Leslie said, Jesse happily nodded at the question.

"Okay, what I'm going to do is play the first ten seconds of the song, and you guys have to guess it…The CD will get harder, just to let you know." Mrs. Edmunds said winking at the two.

The first song started off. _I wish you would step back from that ledge my friend_. Before the song could hit ten seconds, Jesse blurted out the answer.

"Third Eye Blind, uh…Jumper!"

"Very good Jess! Leslie, judging by how you knew what song was on earlier by Metro Station, I think you will probably be able to get this one." She reached over and hit the next button.

Leslie knew exactly what song it was after hearing three seconds of it, but wanted to play dumb just so she could hear it. At the very end of the song Mrs. Edmunds asked her if she knew it.

"Of course, It's Dirty Little Secret by the All American Rejects."

"Good job, now this next one is kind of old…I don't know if either of you will get it."

As the song started playing, Ms. Edmunds turned the volume up to max and started

singing along.

"Come on baby, let's do the twist!_"_

"I've heard this song before! My dad listens to it and dances with my mother in the kitchen." Leslie grabbed Jesse's hands and began to shake them around wildly. Jesse's hands where limp for a while, but then he decided to join in and "dance" with Leslie in the back seat. When this song ended, the rest of the CD was, as both Leslie and Jesse stated, "gushy music." They returned back to their previous zoned out mode, and didn't say a word.

"Alright looks like we're here!" Ms. Edmunds turned into a parking spot right in front of the stairs of the giant museum, put the car in park and got out.

As the three entered the museum, they felt a wave of cold air hit them straight in the face, and the smell of musty old "things" as Jesse had said filled there noses.

They headed for an exhibit and where confronted by the manager of the museum.

"Welcome to the National Gallery of Art, here's a brochure and enjoy your stay!"

Mrs. Edmunds took the pamphlet from her and stuffed it into her jacket. She told Jess and Leslie to go ahead and look around, and meet back at _the designing of the Lincoln Memorial_.

"Wow Jess, look at this!" Leslie grabbed the handle of a small wooden device and started cranking it. As she started to crank faster, a small, circular wooden piece would spin and move up and down the string it was attached to.

"Hey Jess, see that kid over there?" Leslie pointed to a boy who appeared to be there age. The boy had short, blonde hair, blue eyes and was holding his little sister beside him. Leslie begged Jess to go and talk to them to see if they wanted to hang out. A small spark of jealousy shot into Jesse, and sarcastically replied "_Sure!"_

"Uh…H-hey, what's up?" Jess walked over to the two and greeted them.

The strangers turned around, looked at each other, both with a curious face on.

"Umm…Hi, Do I know you?"

"I d-don…" Leslie quickly popped herself in front of Jesse and began to talk.

"Probably not, but we wanted to know if you guys want to look around the museum together?"

"Um, Grace do you care?" The boy looked down at his sister. She nodded, and looked over at Jess blushing.

"Hi Grace! My names Leslie!" Leslie spoke out to her new friend, and stuck her hand out for Grace to shake it.

"Go on, I doubt she'll bite…Hard." Grace's brother pushed her towards Leslie. She stumbled over her own two feet, but managed to catch herself before she fell flat on her face. Leslie grabbed her hand and walked off with her, telling Jess to meet her back here in half an hour.

The boy stuck out his hand towards Jesse. "Hi, The names Tom Jacobs." Jesse shook Tom's hand, and they began to walk off in an opposite direction from where the two girls had walked off_._

"So, where do you live?" Tom asked, breaking the awkward silence the two boys had been in since they had left.

"Lark Creek, It's a small town, you probably haven't heard of it."

_Lark Creek…Lark Creek…Where have I heard that before?_

"Sounds…Nice I guess. Who was the pretty blonde girl you where with?"

"Oh, her names Leslie." Jesse felt the twinge of jealousy again.

"Well duh, I knew that from her little presentation earlier…But is she like your girlfriend or something?"

"_NO!"_ Jesse scolded. _At least I don't think she's my girlfriend_.

"Jeez dude, no need to get so mad over a question!" Tom said defensively.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, I g-guess…I don't know." Jesse let his head fall down, and he began to stare at the floor. _THUD._ "OUCH!" He stumbled backwards, tripped, and fell right onto his back. Looking around, he saw that not many had noticed, but the ones who did where cracking up a little bit, except for Tom. He was laughing so hard he had fallen down too and was lying on his stomach, face red and tears running down his face.

"Jess!" Leslie and Grace ran up, both laughing "Are you okay?" Leslie put her hand out to pick him up, but he ignored it and picked himself up, rubbing his head where he had hit it. He could feel a golf ball sized lump on his head. Leslie asked to feel it, and pushed down too hard, making him cringe.

"Hey, kids!" All four turned around and saw Ms. Edmunds walking up to them. Jess and Leslie waved, but Tom and Grace gave each other the same confused look earlier.

"You guys ready to go? I've been looking all over for you! We were supposed to meet five minutes ago. Oh well it's okay, come on…You guys want to go eat some lunch? My treat!"

"Uh sure Ms. Edmunds, hold on a second." Jesse and Leslie turned towards there new friends. "Looks like we have to go…Bye Tom, Bye Grace, nice meeting you!" Leslie and Jess spoke the last part out simultaneously. Tom and Grace both waved good bye and smiled as they walked away with Ms. Edmunds.

"See ya _Les_!" Tom yelled out, but Leslie didn't seem to notice. Jesse however did, and for the third time today he had that aching jealousy feeling. This time it was much worst, and his face actually twitched when he saw Leslie turn and wave good bye again.

"Did you have a fun time ma'am?" The same manager from earlier was still there at the door greeting people.

"We sure did, didn't we?" Ms. Edmunds turned and looked at Jess and Leslie. They both nodded and smiled at the manager, and all three scurried out the door.

"Gosh, I don't think that lady gets out much huh Jess?" Jess looked at his teacher, and gave her a yea-I-guess shrug and hopped in the car.

"What's wrong," Leslie turned towards jess, stuck her tongue out and began to pull on it with her fingers "caa goh ya tuung?" Leslie let go and slurped her tongue back in her mouth and scrunched her face up. Jesse smiled brightly and laughed.

"So, where do you guys want to go for lunch?"

"Doesn't bother me! Anywhere, I'm starving" Jess blurted out, leaving both Ms. Edmunds and Leslie stunned at how quick he had answered. Ms. Edmunds backed up her car and began to come out of the turn onto the main road.

"WATCH OUT!"

Jesse screamed at what he had seen coming towards him. He grabbed Leslie and yanked her towards him. Ms. Edmunds hit the brakes suddenly and turned around to ask what was wrong. It was too late for Jess to answer. A Coca-Cola truck driver rammed into the side of the teacher's car, slinging their heads to the side, giving their necks major whiplash. The car flipped over on its side, and was now balancing on the passenger sides doors. Jess hit his head on the window, cracking it, and knocking him unconscious. All he could hear was Leslie's voice screaming his name, but it was fading out quickly. Leslie turned her head, but a sharp pain ran through her neck and stopped moving. She felt something wet and warm dripping, almost pouring onto her hand. She pulled her hand up to her face and saw blood was almost completely covering it. She checked to make sure it wasn't her that was bleeding, and then realized that Jess was under her now, so that only meant one thing.

_Ms. Edmunds!_


	2. The Surprise

**A Curve of Fate**

**Chapter 2**

**The Surprise**

_Wow! I have like four or five subscribers already! I'm so happy that this book is intriguing people. Chapter two is a little more dramatic, and leads up to a decent end of a second chapter, and leaves plenty of room to write for upcoming chapters. Also, thanks to __Harpiebird__, __Pricat__, __Forkz94,_ _adamash18__, and the other subscribers/supporters!_

_Enjoy Chapter 2, Read and Review!_

"Mom…Is that you?" Jesse lifted his head from his pillow as he began to regain his conscious. His mother ran towards him and hugged him. Brenda, Ellie, and May Belle where all sitting in a set of chairs in front of his hospital bed.

"W-what happened? All I remember was telling Miss Edmunds to watch out and…I can't remember anything after that." Jesse was obviously mad at his confusion, and was starting to get anxious about answers he hadn't received yet.

"You got in a car wreck _Jess_." Brenda snapped at her little brother.

"Brenda hush." Jack Aarons turned towards his daughter and gave her a stern look.

"Car crash!?" Jesse was racing through all his thoughts until he finally remembered. _Leslie!_

"Is Leslie okay?! W-what about Miss Edmunds!?" He threw his body up and frantically looked around for the two girls, but quickly dropped back down due to the extreme pain that rushed to his head.

"Be careful Jess, you cracked your head open!" Mary started crying again. "Jesse, Leslie is going to be fine…It's your teacher they are worried about…" Jesse's eyes started to fill with tears.

"She received the hit head on." Jack continued with the story. "Her arm was broken in four places…Her leg was pinched in between two spots of the car, but they managed to get it out without damaging it...Uh…" Seldom was his father at a loss of words, and Jesse knew that what he was about to hear was bad. "Julie, um, I mean Miss Edmunds, hit her head on the center piece of her car, it gave her a light concussion, but that's not the bad part. When they did a CAT scan on head they found a tumor inside her head about half the size of a tennis ball." Jack paused, and finished off his words. "Jesse, your music teacher could die because of it." He walked off into the other room, saying he needed some fresh air.

Jesse's eyes started to swell up, and he began to cry softly.

"It's okay Jess; it's not one hundred percent possible!"

"Les…Leslie?" Jesse quickly stopped crying and looked around slowly.

"Over here silly" May Belle pulled a curtain back and revealed Leslie sitting in a hospital bed right beside his. Jesse noticed the brace on her neck, and worry shot into his eyes. Leslie noticed, and began to explain.

"Don't worry Jesse; it's only to let my muscle heal in my neck. When the car was whipped on its side it caused some of my neck muscle to rip. The doctor said I was lucky that I didn't break it!" Jesse smiled. Even though she was in a neck brace, lying in a hospital bed, knowing that she could have died, she was still happy. Jesse liked that about Leslie, no matter what problem got in her way, she flipped it around and made a happy solution.

"Jesse, you can go back to school on Tuesday after the doctors remove the stitches from your head, as for Leslie…" Jack paused, and before he could continue Bill Burke walked into the room.

"Leslie will be fine, but she has to let her neck heal before she goes back to school. The doctors say around Thursday or Friday is when she can leave." Bill was over by his daughter now, looking at her, but speaking to everyone.

"Mr. and Mrs. Burke, and Mr. and Mrs. Aarons, we need to and your families to step out for a little bit while we run some tests."

"Tests, what kind of tests?" Jack Aarons walked up to the nurse, raising his voice.

"Mr. Aarons, we need to make sure your son doesn't have a concussion. He hit his head pretty hard," The doctor looked over at Jesse and smiled, "Coulda rattled your brain up." The doctor opened the door, and led the families out. He stepped outside and showed them where to wait, giving Jesse and Leslie a little time to talk.

"Jess, does it hurt?" Leslie pointed to her head.

"Not really, only if I get up too quickly, what about that?" Jesse pointed to his neck.

"Well, it is a pain in the butt not being able to turn my neck, but other than that it doesn't bother me." Leslie smiled, and pointed towards the door. Jesse looked over and saw the doctor was coming in. He looked back over to Leslie, and saw her under her covers giggling.

"Let me properly introduce myself, I'm doctor Lecter, but you can call me Mr. Han." Jesse's face went white. He remembered a movie he had seen in the fourth grade about someone named Hannibal Lecter, the doctor's name closely resembling it gave him chills.

"Don't worry, I won't eat you." Doctor Han smiled, but this joke only made Jesse quiver even more.

"Okay, I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions, and do a couple of small tests to make sure your brain isn't broken"

"When you got in the wreck, did you hear any ringing?"

"No sir."

"Well that's good! Open your eye, try not to blink." Doctor Han pulled out a small flashlight and shined it in Jesse's eye.

"Does that hurt? More than usual, I mean."

"No sir, it doesn't really hurt at all."

The doctor smiled, told the children he'd be right back and walked out into the hallway.

"Jeez Jess, Hannibal Lecter is our doctor, he's going to cut out our cheeks, cook them and eat them!" Leslie pulled her cheeks out and made a funny face at Jesse. The two children where both contently laying there, smiling at each other. They heard a faint moan in the bed that was beside them, and both turned.

"Jess, Leslie? Is that you?" A familiar voice came from behind the curtain.

"M-miss Edmunds?" Jesse asked in a frightened manor.

"Well I guess it is you two." Julie pulled the curtain back and looked towards them.

"Are you okay?" Leslie asked.

"Obviously not, I have a tumor in my head…It's kind of scary." Miss Edmunds laid her head back on the pillow, and began crying. Jesse looked at Leslie, and they where both feeling horrible for there teacher.

"Don't worry Miss Edmunds; I'm sure they'll get it out." Leslie said with her usual positive attitude.

"Guys, do you mind calling me Julie, or at least Miss Julie, maybe even Miss J? I don't really like the whole 'Miss Edmunds' thing outside of school."

"Sure, _Julie_." Leslie looked at her teacher and smiled.

The rest of the time the kids spend in the hospital went on with little to no drama, aside from the arguing and complaining of needles from Jesse. He was aloud to stay out of school until Leslie returned on Friday, agreeing that he would do his homework brought home to him. Everyday, and every night, Jesse was sitting right beside Leslie's hospital bed, keeping her good company. As for Miss Edmunds, she was transferred to a hospital in West Virginia for better care.

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On Saturday, after all the wounds where healed, Jesse and Leslie decided to go on a hike up into Terabithia. They packed up there snacks and drinks, and proceeded on the trail to there sacred forest.

"Wait! Wait! Can I come?"

"Sorry May Belle, you can't come with us, at least not yet anyways." Leslie turned towards her, and gave her a quick smile and wave, then dashed off to catch up with Jesse.

As the two approached the rope, they looked down at the river below them. It was almost flooding around their feet, and they barely got a hold on the rope. Leslie went first; she had to jump up a bit more on the rope than usual so she wouldn't get her feet drenched. She landed on the bank on the other side, almost falling back into the water, and motioned for Jesse to go ahead. He jumped up onto the rope, accidentally bouncing himself on it. _SNAP!_ The rope broke mid way and he fell in straight on his back into the water.

"Jess!" Leslie yelled out to her best friend, and began to scream for help.

"Lesl" Before Jesse could get anymore words out he was thrown under the water by the rapids. Leslie ran down the side of the creek, telling him to grab on to anything he could. Barely being able to breathe, Jesse twisted his body up right, and began to float on his back. Looking around, he saw a root overhanging the creek and went to grab it. His fingers latched on for a split second, but slipped back off and Jesse was dunked underwater again. Leslie, now holding a stick that was bigger than she was, stuck it out towards Jesse. He grabbed the stick with two fingers, remained attached and finally grabbed on with both hands. Leslie pulled Jesse toward the bank and dragged him onto it. As his leg was pulled out, she saw his pants were a deep, dark red and it had been torn open on one side.

"ow, ow, ow.." Jesse moaned, trying to fight back his tears.

"Jess! Jess!" A voice came from across the field.

"Jess it's going to be okay! May Belle got help!" Leslie hugged Jesse, then stood up and waved the family over to her position.

Jack Aarons ran up to the creek, found a shallow spot, and crossed into the forest. Jesse, now unconscious from shock, was picked up and taken home for medical care. Leslie followed the family there, and just as he had done for her, she waited for him.

"Les-Leslie?" Jesse propped himself up on the couch with a pillow behind him.

"JESS!" Leslie practically screamed his name, turned around from watching the television and gave him a long hug. He was amazed at first, but then decided to embrace the hug, until his parents came in.

"Jesse, we're going to take you to the E.R. tonight. Don't worry, Leslie will be able to stay with you…At least until Sunday, then she has to be home by eight for school." Mr. Aarons had walked into the room with a cup of coffee in his hand to announce the plans.

"Dad, can I please stay home until Jesse gets feeling better?" Leslie turned to her dad who was sitting on the recliner across the room.

"Well, I mean…I guess if Judy says it's o" Bill was quickly interrupted.

"No. Sorry Leslie, but you need to get back to school!"

Leslie looked at her mother with her bottom lip stuck out, head down, and eyes looking up towards her mother.

"I'll talk to your father about it." Judy fell victim to Leslie's innocent face, and smiled as she walked home with her husband to "talk" about their daughter staying home with her best friend.

Jesse was carried to Roanoke Hospital that night, stitched up, and sent home with a pair of crutches. He walked in the door, mumbled something close to "good night," and fell sound asleep on the couch.

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Sunday started off far different than Jesse had expected. Saturday night sometime after Jesse fell asleep on the couch; Leslie called her parents to ask if she could spend the night. With a lot of pleading and begging, she was aloud to sleep at the Aarons house under a few conditions. She was to stay in May Belle's room while Jesse was down stairs sleeping, and she had to sleep in May Belle's bed while she slept in Jesse's bed.

Jesse awoke to a sweet aroma, and he opened his eyes immediately. A plate of pancakes glazed over with syrup and a small square piece of butter on top was sitting on the coffee table right beside him. He quickly propped himself up onto the couch with a few pillows behind him. Grabbing the pancakes and fork without hesitation, he quickly started gobbling them up.

"Wow Jesse, you must have been hungry…" Leslie looked at Jesse with amazement.

"Mmhyah" Jesse mumbled through his pancakes.

"Taste good?" she asked; Jesse nodded happily.

"I spit in it." Leslie put her face in front of Jesse's and smiled. This didn't affect Jesse, however. He just paused for a second to look up at her, shrugged and continued to eat. Leslie giggled at Jesse, and prepared for what she was about to do.

"I didn't spit in them, but I did make them just for you."

Jesse paused, and looked over at Leslie. Before he could respond, Leslie gave Jesse an uncoordinated kiss on his cheek. Leslie pulled back and blushed, hiding her face in her hands, and Jesse was just lying there on the couch, mouth opened with food visible, and eyes wide open. It was now that Jesse was certain about how he felt towards Leslie. He wanted her to be his Leslie, no one else's. He felt an extremely warm feeling rush through is body during and after the kiss, and after he chewed his food, he said one phrase that left Leslie the same way she left him.

"I love you, Leslie."


	3. The New kids

**A Curve of Fate**

**Chapter 3**

**The New Kids**

_Guys, this is the end of this story, _for now._ I will be working on other stories for a while. Although, remember I did say "for now"! I will defiantly be coming back to this story because after reading it I realized that I really like it. Even though I did use the characters from _A Life Rescued _I can't help but to keep on writing with them. And besides, I never said I was __only__ going to use those characters._

_-Creation X_

Jesse and Leslie went to school Monday both happier than ever. The following night the two had a long talk about how they felt about each other, and it was the first time either had completely opened up. The new friends that they had made at the lunch table, Mikey Sellers and The Silliard Twins, had noticed an odd change in behavior between the two.

"What's up with you two?" Mikey asked.

"Nothing…Why?" Jesse questioned, a little too quickly. This rose suspicion with the three friends, but they left it alone and changed the subject.

"Have you guys seen the new kids yet?"

"New kids?" Leslie looked at Jesse in a confused manner.

"Who would want to move here?" Jesse said jokingly. The three laughed as the bell rang, and proceeded towards their respective classes. Jesse entered his science room, dropped his book bag, and gasped at who was standing in the center of a circle of kids.

"Tom?" Jesse pushed his way through to talk to his "friend" he had met the week before at the museum.

"Hey! Jesse, this is sweet! We have a class together!" Tom threw his arm around Jesse's shoulder and walked away from the crowd.

"You should have told me there were all these hot chicks at your school man! Speaking of girls, are you and that girl dating, you know the one from the museum?"

"Uh, I don't think so…Her name is Leslie." Jesse shoved Tom off his shoulder. He knew that if he had said no, Tom would try to move it, and that _can't_ happen. _It won't happen._

"Oh, guess that's a no. Don't mind me _talking_ to her then." Tom said "talking" in a sly voice, and Jesse lost his temper. He shoved Tom on to a table and stuck his finger on his chest.

"_If you __**ever**_ _try to take Leslie away from me I'll..." _Jesse paused for a moment, and then pulled himself off of Tom, still giving him a stern look.

"What's the problem here?" Mrs. Meyers came over to the boys and asked them a couple of questions. They both avoided the real subject at hand, and didn't speak to each other the rest of the day.

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Jesse walked onto the bus and flopped himself down next to Leslie.

"Whoa Jesse, what's wrong with you." Leslie asked concerning as she turned towards him.

"One of the new kids is in my class." His head was down, and he was talking in an overly dramatic, sarcastic tone.

"Really? Is it a boy or a girl? What's their name?" Leslie trampled Jesse with questions. He only said one thing before he got off the bus to run home, leaving Leslie in the dust.

"It's Tom Jacobs, the guy we met at the museum. Glad to see you want to be best friends with _him_ instead."

Jesse ran in his room, throwing his backpack down and slamming his door. His anger turned into guilt, shame, sadness, and for some reason, confusion. He knew what he just did was immature, even for a fifth grader. _How did I get so angry at her just over one question? _Jesse pondered the thought in his head. He felt bad that he over reacted, and almost began to cry at the thought that she really _might_ go to Tom after the little fit he just threw. Lying on his bed, he began to cry quietly. He ended up crying himself to sleep, and didn't wake up until the next morning. As he arose, he could only think of one thing. The _nightmare_ he had of Leslie. He looked at his clock, and scurried out of his bed, hurrying to get dressed. It was seven twenty five and the bus got there at half past seven. He quickly threw off the clothes that he had one, found pants, a shirt, socks, but no underwear. He was stuck in a bad situation right now, thinking about what he was going to do. Quickly, he threw on the pair he was wearing the day before, finished getting dressed and ran downstairs.

"Jesse come on!" May Belle was standing at the screen door, urging him to hurry up. He grabbed his lunch and ran out the door. As he approached the bus, he saw Leslie through one of the windows. Their eyes met, and he quickly turned away. When they got on the bus, May Belle found an empty seat and Jesse sat down beside her.

"Jesse I'm saving this seat for my new friend, her name is Grace."

Quickly Jesse's eyes filled with horror. _Grace Jacobs? Do they live near us? Oh crap._ He didn't notice anyone sitting beside Leslie when he looked through the window, but he looked back to check if anyone was sitting there. Much to his relief, no one was there but Leslie, staring out the window. The bus's door closed and they began to drive off. Everyone felt the bus come to another stop, and questions arose. Tom and Grace Jacobs both got on the bus, one after another. Tom looked back at Leslie and waved, making Jesse weary. As Tom got to one seat in front of him, Jesse ran to the back of the bus and flopped down next to Leslie. Jesse glared at Tom, and he decided he was going to sit with Grace and May Belle.

"Jesse, what's wrong with you?" Leslie looked at Jesse, and when she spoke, she wasn't mad, she was worried.

"_Nothing_." He scolded back.

"Are you _jealous_?" Leslie jokingly hit Jesse in the shoulder, with a smile on her face, and it seemed to help.

"_No_…Well, I don't think so." He was now looking at Leslie, head up and happy again. Leslie smiled when Jesse had told her about what he said to Tom the day before, and everything seemed to be good…for now. When the kids got off the bus, Tom was waiting eagerly around the door where Jesse couldn't see him when he got off the bus.

"Jesse…" Tom said as he got off the bus. Jesse kept walking.

"Jesse!" He raised his voice.

"What!" Jesse turned and screamed at Tom, making a couple heads turn.

"I'm sorry, for what I said about Leslie…I won't try to hit on her, strictly friends I swear. I don't want to be hated by a friend I just made at a town that I just moved to." Tom's voice was quiet and pitiful. It made Jesse feel really bad for what he did the day before, and he quickly apologized too. Now the only thing to worry about was Grace Jacobs. Leslie too was getting a little dash of jealousy in her when she saw Grace constantly staring at Jesse, waving at him, and being very bashful. Leslie knew these were signs of liking someone, and she hated it. When Jesse and Tom saw this, they agreed not to try to intervene; it would save them both from being yelled at. The school day went on with little to no harm done between Leslie and Grace, aside from the argument at the lunch table about which one of the guys at the table was the most athletic. Jesse and Tom were listening, and when their names were mentioned they would just shrug and continue on with their own conversation about the usual "guy stuff."

--------------------------------------------

When Jesse and Leslie got home, they stopped at Leslie's house and looked at the big pile of extra wood sitting outside.

"Hold on, I have an idea, be right back." Leslie ran into her house running around looking for her father.

"Whoa, Leslie hold your horses!" Bill grabbed Leslie up by the waste and asked her what she wanted. He happily agreed on the question and Leslie pranced out of the house.

"Hey Jesse, do you think your father…Never mind. Be right back again." Leslie ran into the house again, this time coming back out with her father.

"Alright, grab some wood and load it up in the truck Jesse." Mr. Burke ran to his Ford F-150 and backed it up to the wood pile. After everything was loaded up, including some tools that Jesse had gotten from his dad's green house, they drove the truck down the trail towards Terabithia.


	4. So Long, Farewell

**A Curve of Fate**

**Chapter 4**

**So Long, Farewell**

_Well, congratulations to me. I finally got off my butt to start working on this story. Have fun reading :D_

_NOTE: this chapter is graphic, and emotional. Nothing sexual though, I assure you. _

_-Creation X_

As the truck pulled up to a clear spot near the creak, Mr. Burke looked curiously at what was happening. Two police cars were sitting in the field a couple yards to the side, and there was an ambulance along with its crew loading someone up.

"Stay in the truck Leslie." Bill Burke got out of the car and walked over to one of the policemen.

"What do you think happened Jesse? I hope no one is hurt."

"I don't know, I didn't think anyone ever came back here anymore." Jesse accidentally made his voice sound a bit suspicious. Leslie caught this and thought about it for a moment, but just disregarded it. They looked over at Leslie's dad and watched him walk over towards the van.

"Some move ins decided to play along the creek when it was flooded. Poor fellow slipped into the water and hit his head. He was announced dead about an hour ago." The police officer's throat knotted up as he said this. Bill looked into the ambulance and saw the blood trail on the floor of the ambulance. Bill turned, and started walking to the car.

"Oh my gosh. His face is paper white, Jesse. He looks like he just saw a ghost. There's something seriously wrong." Leslie's tone sounded frightened, and she moved closer to Jesse. Jesse felt the same way, and his lip quivered because of the fear. Mr. Burke got in the car quietly.

"I don't want you two coming here, anymore. You could seriously get hurt." Mr. Burke started his truck.

"What happened dad? Who was it? What was it? Are they dead?" Leslie slammed her father with so many questions it broke his temper.

"Leslie, shut the hell up! I'll fucking explain later." Mr. Burke automatically felt horrible for what he said, but couldn't talk because of the knot he now had in his throat. Leslie started crying, and Jesse held her. He was completely shocked at what he said to his own daughter. As they arrived at the Burke's residence, Bill told them to go inside and tell Mrs. Burke to come outside. They ran inside and flopped down on the couch., Leslie still crying.

"Mom! Dad wants you outside!" She screamed.

"Okay okay. Jesus what's wrong." Mrs. Burke came downstairs, and her crisp mahogany colored hair glowed in the sunlight that hit her.

"We don't know." Jesse took over, seeing as how Leslie could barely speak.

Jesse and Leslie fell asleep watching the Disney channel. It was twelve in the morning and Leslie's parents still weren't home. Jesse woke up and saw Leslie with her head on his chest, arms folded in his neck. He smiled, and felt really warm inside. This moment was amazing to him, and he knew he would never forget it. Leslie was there, so calm…Her breath slowly but loudly beating in and out. He thought back to before Leslie came, and how dull his life was. No excitement, no Terabitha, no Leslie. He was truly grateful for the gift he was given. Jesse heard the screen door open and quickly shut his eyes. Leslie has her eyes secretly open for a little moment and saw him do this. Her lips spread out and she smiled.

"Jesse. Wake up Jesse." Mr. Burke tapped on Jesse's shoulder lightly until he stopped faking sleep. He rose up, and gently lifted Leslie's upper body off of him, and she woke up.

"A kid at your school was hurt severely today in the creek. He um." Mr. Burke stopped, and couldn't speak anymore. Mrs. Burke proceeded.

"Tom Jacobs, did you know him?"

Both the children's eyes light up.

"I guess that's a yes…Well there's some really unfortunate news. He hit his head on a rock in the creek, and well…He's dead." Mrs. Burke covered her face and started crying, falling over into her husband's hands. Leslie unintentionally mimicked this move with Jesse.

"This has caused some wide-spread panic in lark creek, both the Silliard family and the Jacobs family are leaving."

_Does that mean Leslie is going to leave too!?_ Jesse's eyes filled with sadness, and Bill saw this.

"Don't worry Jesse. Whatever there is between you and Leslie, we aren't going to break it up. Although, we are going to tighten down around here. No more going through the woods. If you two go anywhere, you have to tell either your parents or us. Got it you two?"

They both nodded their head.

"Jesse, you don't have to leave right now, you can go in the morning, but I don't think you two sleeping like this is going to work." Bill said. Mrs. Burke grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away, silently saying "go ahead and let them." He did so, and everyone went to bed for the morning to come.

_There's the end to chapter 4 :) I love leaving you guys hanging, it's great. Don't worry though; I'll probably end up writing chapter 5 in the next month, considering my chapters are fairly short. Sorry if the chapter was too sad, I had to get rid of IhateSnakes characters, and I've already had two people jump me even though I had permission. (They have forgiven me though.) See you next chapter!_


	5. Catching Up

**A Curve of Fate**

**Chapter 5**

**Catching Up**

_Yay, Chapter five! I have The next two or three chapters already planned out, so the only thing left to do is find free time to write them. School is coming up, sometime in September so you guys can expect a lot more by then. I hope to have at least ten chapters out, if not more by the end of 2009. Enjoy the read!_

"Hey kids!" Mrs. Edmunds looked him walking in the room.

"Mrs. Edmonds, mind if I leave him here for a while? He's been nagging me for quite a while to come and see you." Mary popped her head in the room, quickly asking. His face blushed intensely.

"Oh sure, I don't bite, hard." She said with a smile, waving her out and him over.

"Well, did you come just to stare at me or are you going to come over? I already told your mother I don't bite; did you not hear me say that or something?" Julie smiled, and gave him a warm heart. They started to gain a new level of friendship, not so much relationship wise, but best friend wise.

"Y-yea. Did they get that thing out yet?" He felt stupid for not remembering what it was called.

"Sure did. They took it out and I'm fine. They have to run some tests on me and I should be out of the hospital within the next two weeks. I don't know if I'm coming back to school this year though. I know I will be doing summer school and summer activities though! You should join me and Leslie. Since she arrived so late in the year, she has to take most of her classes over during the summer to avoid being held back."

"I might do that, I'll have to ask Leslie if she wants me to come."

"Why wouldn't she? Man…My head is killing me." Mrs. Edmunds laid her head back and closed her eyes, and then proceeded talking again.

"I heard there where two more new families that moved in late; The Silliards and the Jacobs? How's that been? My Sister, Terra is going to move down here, she has a little girl the same age as you and Leslie. They're on their way to Virginia now." Mrs. Edmunds messed with the Hospital bed's configuration, positioning bed in a forty five degree angle.

"Well. I don't really want to talk about the new kids. Both the families are leaving anyway." Jesse sounded like he was about to cry. Mrs. Edmunds opened one eye and looked over at Jesse.

"Y-yea, a boy named Jacob died in the creek near my house."

This caught Julie's attention and she opened both eyes very widely.

"Really? Oh my god Jesse what happened?"

"He slipped on a rock." Jesse was fighting back tears now. He couldn't help but be sad. Finally after all the time he had been bullied and ignored, he finally had a male friend he could talk to. Of course there was Leslie, but there were some thing that didn't need to be discussed between male and female, at any age!

"That's…Unfortunate." She was at a loss of words, which wasn't a usual with Mrs. Edmunds.

"Yea, it made the Silliard family and the Jacobs family move away. I really hope we can make friends with your niece, otherwise I'm stuck with Leslie." Jesse rolled his eyes, cheering them both up. An obnoxious cough came from behind the door.

"And is there a problem with being stuck with me?" Leslie walked in the room and ran over to the two.

"L-Leslie? How did you know I was here?" Jesse asked.

"I didn't, I came here to see Mrs. Edmunds. Do you think everything is about you?" Leslie said this is a joking way, but Jesse got slightly offended. When Leslie noticed, she smirked and nudged his shoulder.

"Hey Mrs. Julie, I heard the good news."

"Mrs. Julie?" Jesse looked at Leslie funny.

"Yea, that's her first name; Teachers have 'em too you know." The two girls laughed, once again making Jesse look like a fool.

_Knock Knock._

"Jesse, Leslie, time to go." Mr. Aaron's raspy voice was heard outside the door.

"C'mon Jesse let's go." Leslie's words followed her out the door.

"I hope you feel better, Mrs. Edmunds." Jesse leaned over and nervously hugged her.

"O-oh, okay. Thanks, I don't think I've been hugged in a while." Julie reacted completely different to her hug with Jesse than a hug between her and her family. It was like he was more than that. She wanted her relationship between them to change, for the better of course.

"Hey, how about we go out to dinner some time, the three of us? After I get the bandages off my head and re-grow my hair."

"S-sure, well, see you later." Jesse ran out the door waving goodbye. There was a few seconds pause before Mrs. Aarons came in the room and shut the door behind her.

"Man, I feel famous." Julie said, reclining her bed farther down.

"Well you kind of are. Everywhere I've gone in Lark Creek people have been talking about you, small world, huh?" Mary looked at all the gear strapped up to Julie's head.

"Do you mind if I go to sleep, I haven't got more than four hours of sleep in the last forty-eight hours I've been here."

"Oh sure, I'm sorry to keep you up. I just needed to ask you one thing." Mary stalled herself, and Julie had an odd feeling about the question.

"Well, has Jesse been acting different since Leslie came around?"

"Yea, he's been a lot more active in class. Before he just sat around, he would pay attention, but really all he did was keep his head on his arms and watch constantly. It's a good thing she came. Why?"

"Well, those two seem to be in love already, and they are only 12 years old. I know I can't tell them if they are or are not in love, but I just wanted to make sure neither of them get hurt. It'd be a shame to see him loose all the progress he's gained."

"Yea, well what they have is definitely special, and I would hate to see it change." Julie sounded half asleep, and this was Mary's sign to go.

"Well, once again sorry to keep you up. Hope you feel better, sleep well." She left the room, and left Mrs. Edmunds there to sleep. The Aarons and Burkes left the waiting area outside of her room, and as they left Jesse noticed a lady who resembled Mrs. Edmunds, and so did her daughter. Jesse wondered if that was her niece. Leslie looked over at Jesse, and saw him staring at her, but Jesse couldn't help it. She looked stunning, a spinning image of Mrs. Edmunds as if they had gone back in time.

_SMACK_.

Jesse's face hit straight into the wall, giving him a blood leaking nose. He had to hold his hand under his nose the whole ride home. Leslie, sat as far away from him as she could, making it obvious that she was angry with him.

They had a long drive from West Virginia to Lark Creek, and by the time they dropped Leslie off at home it was rounding one o'clock in the morning. When he got home, he stripped off his clothes and hopped in the shower. The warm water calmed him so much he almost fell asleep. After he got out, he wrapped himself in a towel, and hopped in his bed, not even caring about underwear.

The last thought that ran through his head that night was "good night, Leslie."

The same one that's been going threw his head every night since he had met her.


	6. Upcoming Events NOT A CHAPTER

**A Curve of Fate**

**Upcoming Events!**

_This is an exclusive, update/news chapter. This has nothing to do with the real story, but it's just a layout so you guys can see what is going to happen._

Hey Everyone! Well, for the people who have read Chapter 5, you know that things between the trio, Leslie, Jesse, and Mrs. Edmunds are starting to get close connected. If Leslie and Julie Edmunds (Mrs. Edmunds) have the same ideas about keeping their mind wide open, does that mean Terabithia will be open for another person in the castle? I've thought about this, and a few other things…Like how I'm writing a story about Terabithia, that hasn't even included Terabithia yet! After I Lark Creek nice and stable, and no more death, sickness, car crashes, etc. I'll show you guys Terabithia. Here's some ideas I've thought about for the next couple of chapters.

-Julie's Niece is involved with Jesse and Leslie.

-A special item from Terabithia falls into the wrong hands.

-Mrs. Edmunds Joins Jesse and Leslie regularly.

-Scott Hoger and Gary Fultcher get a new friend.

Here are some chapter names I've thought of. Remember, just because I thought of them, doesn't mean I'm adding them.

(Chronological order)

------------------------------

_A Curve of Fate_

_A Fine Edge_

_Back to the Present_

_Brittany Edmunds  
Evil Comes in Threes_

_Summer 08_

_September Third 6__Th__ grade starts on September third._

_More later._

_------------------------------_

Anyway, there's your update. I do have actual plans for these chapters, but I edited them out of this document so I can surprise my readers :)

Happy reading.

-Creation X


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